Is it possible to create campaigns without using negative keyword targeting? Yes.
Is it a good idea? No.
If you haven’t been taking advantage of negative keywords, you’re very likely wasting your valuable ad spend. But don’t worry, we can help!
Here’s what we’ll talk about…
What Are Negative Keywords?
When you enter a regular keyword into a manual campaign you’re telling Amazon that’s where you want your ad to show up.
A negative keyword has the opposite effect. Using a negative keyword tells Amazon where not to show your ad.
In other words, using negative keyword targeting can stop Amazon from showing your ads in places where it’s not relevant and therefore not profitable for you.
Negative Keyword Match Types
We’ve got an article explaining the differences between match types for regular (or positive) keywords here.
For negative keywords, there are just two match types.
Negative Phrase Match: Amazon will not show an ad on searches that contain your negative keywords in the same order.
So if your negative keyword is “ceramic measuring spoon” your ad would be blocked from appearing on these searches
White ceramic measuring spoon
Ceramic measuring spoon for cooking
Cute ceramic measuring spoon
But it would still show up on these because they don’t contain the entire phrase.
Ceramic spoon
Measuring spoon
Negative Exact Match: Amazon will not show an ad on searches that contain your exact negative keywords.
Using the same example as above. Your ad would be blocked from appearing on this exact search.
Ceramic measuring spoon
But it would still show up on these searches because they don’t match your keyword exactly.
White ceramic measuring spoon
Ceramic measuring spoon for cooking
Cute ceramic measuring spoon
Measuring spoon
(Special note: plurals and misspellings are included. So, “ceramic measuring spoons” or “ceramic measurng spoon” would also get blocked in both match types.)
Why You Should Definitely Be Using Negative Keywords
Using negative keywords helps you to make sure you’re reaching the most relevant audience and prevents you from paying for clicks from people who aren’t really interested in your product.
So if you’re letting a campaign run without negating keywords then you’re probably wasting money on clicks from people who are very unlikely to ever convert.
Not to mention, Amazon really likes happy customers. So they only want to show highly relevant ads. If your ads keep showing up on irrelevant searches and your CTR drops then Amazon is also going to start dropping your organic ranking.
Yikes!
How to Figure Out Which Keywords You Should Make Negative
Ok, it sounds like I should definitely be using negative keywords. But how do I know which keywords I should make negative?
It really comes down to finding those keywords that aren’t converting. It’s all going to depend on your goals but here are a few pieces of low-hanging fruit you can look at to get started.
Keywords with high ad spend and zero conversions
Keywords with a low CTR and zero conversions
Keywords with lots of clicks and zero conversions
Even if you’re only able to identify a few keywords to negate in each campaign you’re already going to be adding those dollars back to your bottom line.
Are you using negative keywords in your campaigns? Why or why not?
Did anything in this article spark your curiosity or bring up a question? Comment below or email us at [email protected] We love talking about PPC!
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